Augustus - O. Vulgaris

Jabba954

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Jul 21, 2009
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Just picked up a Briareus from Tom. Acclimated for 3 hours before adding him to an empty 40 gallon tank (will move to a large tank when ready).

Tom shipped him with a cup that had a bunch of holes drilled in it. The octo has NOT let go of the cup since being placed in the tank, even overnight. When I went to check on him in the middle of the night with my little flashlight, he actually pulled the cup with him around the tank.

Only other tank inhabitants are small hermits, and one 3" crab (no idea on species, just sort of a big regular crab). He did take a piece of fresh shrimp after being in the tank a few hours yesterday.

Will post pics later today.
 
Cool!

be careful with the crab, I just lost my O.hummelincki too a 2" blue crab. He was originally food for a different octopus and was never eaten, anyway he molted and his claws came back, now that he has claws he is a mean little suckers!
 
Will do - this crab is pretty much a giant sissy so far

Augustus ate a piece of mahi mahi just now (left over from feeding the sharks) - took it right off the feeding stick.
 
O.briareus seem particularly prone to not wanting to leave their acclimation chamber. I have learned never to try to transfer them in a plastic bag because of this trait. If the tank is empty, empty and you don't have live rock or other hiding places, please consider coming up with something to use for a dark temporary den. A conch shell, PVC pipe, anything that will allow him/her to escape the light and action around him/her.
 
Tons of rock and space for him to hide in there - he was actually hanging one tentacle onto the rocks to pull the cup around... lol. He finally let go today and I removed the cup. He promptly made himself a den under some rock.
 
I definitely like the containerized shipping method over just a bag and their reluctance to release it seems to support this preference.

Glad to know you have rock in the temporary tank. My mind's eye saw and "empty" 40 gallon and a soon to be tramatized O. briareus.

Acclimation photos? Guestimates on mantle size (use a comparitive fruit, that seems to give the best idea)?
 
Pics as soon as I find where the cleaning lady hid the camera cable... d'oh!

It's a 39 gallon RedSeaMax with a custom protein skimmer in back. Seems to be doing just fine. I caught Augustus out and about hunting hermit crabs last night.
 
Pics as soon as I find where the cleaning lady hid the camera cable... d'oh!
I no longer have cleaning help but cables still disappear :biggrin2:. I lost my card reader on my MACNA trip (it is SOMEWHERE in the stuff I brought home) and ordered a couple of cheap spares on eBay and LOVE them. I have never been fond of the way the cable accesses the card but with the card reader and the new better than disk speed (I will trash my old reader when I find it) I am a happy camper. Just remember to put the card back in the camera :oops: if you go this route and PM me if you want a link.

Linda, quit scaring the guy, YOU are the ONLY one to have ever gotten a vulgaris (albeit, Penn is close to a monster) from Tom (and I am so jealous) :wink:
 
Id love a vulgaris! How can you tell the diff? Augustus has horns, and has been out more and more each day in early evenings and mornings.
 
The horns are fairly pronounced. More so than on my aculeatus.

I can move him to whatever size is necessary. He was going to move into an 80, but its easy for me to supply a much larger tank. My 2000 gallon tank will be empty in about 4 months (they're moving into a 10K gallon tank).

I swiped a wire from work, so I'll post pics this evening.
 
Hummelincki show pronounced horns sometimes and are from the same area. Monty will sometimes only show one. What colors are you seeing on the animal? The immediate viewing of a newly housed briareus is unusual. Most experiences are punctuated with frustration at not seeing them for several weeks at best and difficulty getting them to eat. Hummelincki usually acclimate quickly and are a diurnal species. We only have one vulgaris but eye horns have not been noted.
 

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